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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

After the walkabout of Wakaf Che Yeh
in Kota Bharu, my cousin, my friends from Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia (the
participants of Jom Jelajah Koperasi Kelantan in June 2014) and I were
attracted to the banner “Jom pakat try Maggie Ketam, sekali try teringat sokmo”
(Let’s all try Crab Maggie, once you try you will always remember). That was
how I was introduced to Restaurant Orange, Crab burger and also Crab Maggie.

Restaurant
Orange
is situated along the main road of Jalan Kuala Krai, Wakaf Che Yeh, not far
from Old Town White Coffee Kopitiam and Holiday Villa Hotel and Suites Kota
Bharu. The restaurant is an open air restaurant that can accommodate about 100
diners. The walls and pillars are painted orange in conjunction with the name
Orange.

In the meantime, he ordered the Soft Shelled Crab Burger which arrived 10
minutes later. It looked very appetizing with a generous amount of mayonnaise,
chili sauce and BBQ sauce on the burger and on top of the roasted sesame bun. For
a balanced meal, a few shredded of lettuces were placed inside the bun and a
few leaves as side items. After watching Awang gobbled the Crab burger within 5
minutes and two thumbs up sign from him, I knew that I must go on a quest for a
Crab Burger in the Klang Valley, closer to home.

Ten minutes later, the star dish Crab Maggie was ready. In the bowl,
there were three prawns and 1 ½ huge crabs complete with its shells and claws.
The price RM 30.00 is worth it. For light eaters, two or three people can share
this bowl of Crab Maggie.

My cousin gave a tip to eat the Crab
Maggie – eat the noodle first before it thickens. Crab claw cracker is also
available to extract the cooked crab meat inside the claw.

This time I tasted the noodles and
its soup. The Maggie noodles were springy as it should be. It was perfect
timing between cooking in the Curry broth and serving the Crab Maggie. Well
done, Chef!! I really liked the well-balanced taste of its broth with its spicy
crushed Bird’s eye chili (Cili padi) and coarsely chopped red chili (Cili
hidup), fragrant yellow Bombay onions, aromatic coriander leaf (daun ketumbar),
sauteed mustard leaf (sawi hijau) and a sprinkle of thinly sliced spring onion
(daun bawang).

She told us that there are some
other restaurants that sell Crab Maggie

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

During the Jom Jejalah Koperasi Kelantan program in June 2014, the nights are
free to discover the night life of Kelantan. My friends and I were taken by my
cousin to see the Dates trees and to shop and eat at Wakaf Che Yeh.

In 2007, 37 Dates trees were planted at Bulatan
Medan Tuan Padang, popularly known as the Big Clock Roundabout (Bulatan Jem Besar) as ornamental plants
in line of its new identity as an Islamic city. Since 2011, surprisingly 10
trees started fruiting, attracting the attention of many. Ever since then, the
biggest roundabout in Kota Bharu has become a tourist attraction and a favorite
hangout amongst the locals especially during the weekends and at night.

Bulatan Medan Tuan Padang / Bulatan Jem Besar

The Big Clock at this famous roundabout

I am just a visitor !!

Currently this famed site is
unprotected with high walls or security guards, the local authorities welcome
everyone to see the trees and dates and to eat the fallen fresh ripe dates. They
forbid the visitors to thrust any sharp objects to the fruits and to climb the
trees.

The Dates trees at Bulatan Medan Tuan Padang / Bulatan Jem Besar

Wakaf
Che Yeh
is an open air night market located about 4 kilometers from Kota Bharu city. Actually
this place is a wholesale market in the early morning, a wet market in the late
morning and a night market after the sunset. Due to its popularity, this small
town has progressed well for the past ten years that local authority has
upgraded the market area. Nowadays there are hotels, business buildings, eateries,
McDonald restaurant and petrol kiosk in its quarter acre vicinity.

The businesses at Wakaf Che Yeh
market are open all year round. The peak hours are weekends and school holidays
when many of the stalls stay open until 2 to 3am. During the Eid Mubarak eve,
they closed at sunrise for the benefits of the huge crowds who await the massive
discounts on all merchandises.

Perfumes & Clothes

Head Scraves

There are stretches of stalls
selling clothes for gentlemen as well as ladies, head scarves, football jerseys,
home accessories, car accessories, perfume, bundled shoes, CD, DVD, watches,
handbags, towels, comforters etc. Don’t be deceive as all the goods are
imitation especially watches and perfumes.

Traditional snacks

Fruits stalls

Here are a few tips from by my
cousin

If the traffic jam is very bad, park
outside the Wakaf Che Yeh archway. Make sure you also use steering lock because
there are lot car thefts in these areas. If you find parking space within the
vicinity, there is a fee of RM 2.00 per entry during the peak hours.

If you have ample time, it is best
to shop at the Free Trade Zones of Rantau Panjang or Pengkalan Kubor where
things are cheaper. Rantau Panjang is located about 40 kilometers from Kota
Bharu city at the Kelantan-Thailand border. The shops are open from 8.00am to
6.00pm. Whereas the fenced shopping areas with only one main entrance at Pengkalan
Kubor is opened from 8.30am to 5.00pm. It is situated in Tumpat district. Parking
is limited and the customs are stricter. It is said the wares at the Rantau
Panjang are of wider choice and cheaper than Pengkalan Kubor.

If you intend to buy original tudung bawal and fabrics, it is best to
buy at the shop lots at Wakaf Che Yeh. Otherwise you can shop in comfort at
Bazar Tok Guru, Jalan Bayam, Kota Bharu or Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah, Jalan
Ping Pong, Kota Bharu.

Soft Shelled Crab Burger

We had late dinner at Restaurant
Orange, Wakaf Che Yeh. I wrote the food and restaurant review in the next entry. There are more food, restaurant and recipe in my other blog
– http://www,wanfoodmalaysia.wordpress.com.=

Saturday, October 11, 2014

On the last day of the Let’s Explore
Cooperative Kelantan program (Jom Jelajah Koperasi Kelantan), I was taken to
the legendary Pasar Siti Khadijah where the Koperasi Peniaga Peniaga Pasar Siti Khadijah Kota Bahru Berhad operates
at No 323 - 324, 2nd Floor, Pasar Siti Khadijah,
15000, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Its main objective is to amalgamate the business
entities at the Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah.

Originally
called Pasar Besar Buluh Kubu, the formerly Chief Minister Dato Nik Abdul Aziz
Bin Nik Mat renamed it Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah in honor of Prophet Muhammad’s
wife, Siti Khadijah, an eminent businesswoman herself. It is interesting to
note that majority of the entrepreneurs are women and business will cease for
15 minutes for each prayer to enable the traders and Muslim visitors to pray. Opening
hours is from 6.00am to 7.00pm daily except Eid Mubarak. Friday is not a good
day to visit Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah as most of the shops are open after the
Friday prayer.

The colours of Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah

This Central
Market (Pasar Besar) is a two storey building. Certain part of the ground floor
is specifically for wet items such as fish, vegetable, chicken etc. Another
section of the ground floor is reserved for food items such as fruits, meat
floss (serunding), fish cracker (keropok kering) and its traditional desserts
such as tahi itik, akok, jala mas, buah tanjung, serabe, tepung pelita. There
are also some stores that sell basic kitchen needs such as varieties of rice
etc. A small section of the 1st floor is a food court that sells
ayam percik, ikan percik, nasi kerabu, nasi berlauk, nasi dagang, laksam and
somtam. The remaining area is for pots, pans, brass, souvenir etc. The 2nd
floor is for clothing such as batik, silver-threaded fabric (songket), head
scarf (tudung), fabrics (kain ela), sarong (kain sarung), man sarong (kain
pelikat), prayer attire (kain telekung), blouse, tee-shirt, handicrafts,
handbags, shoes, etc

The three
room categories and its school holiday room rate are Standard Double at RM
70.00, Standard Twin at RM 80.00, Deluxe Double at RM 95.00, Deluxe Twin at RM
105.00 and Family at RM 135.00. The room rates are inclusive for breakfast at
Firdaus Café on the 3rd floor, Room facilities are air-conditioning,
attached bathroom, cupboard and television. However there is only one ironing
board for each floor. There are 2 dormitories that can accommodate 20 persons
each are priced at RM 350.00. The dormitory is air-conditioned and has attached
bathroom, television, drying area and ironing board.

Besides the scheduled program, I
really took advantage of the free time to explore Kota Bharu city with my
relatives and friends. This Kelantan trip has been an eye opener. Thank you
Gaya Travel Magazine!!! Thank you Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission
(SKM - Securiti Koperasi Malaysia)!!!